The evening sun had surrendered to a deep, bruised purple over the Cedar Falls horizon. Aurora stood at the kitchen island, plating a simple pasta with roasted garlic and oil.Julian sat at the wooden table. He was already home from Oswald’s, which was becoming a frequent occurrence in this new register of their lives.Julian pulled a small, folded slip of white paper from his dark shirt pocket. He smoothed it out against the wood."Mrs. Gable sent a note home today," Julian said.His deep voice was remarkably calm. It carried the specific, quiet satisfaction of a man who no longer lived in fear of the next phone call from the school."Is everything all right?" Aurora asked.She set a steaming bowl of pasta in front of Lily."Everything is better than all right," Julian replied. "She says Lily contributed to the class discussion twice today."Aurora stopped moving. She looked down at the five-year-old child sitting between them."Twice?" Aurora whispered.Lily picked up her silver for
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